welcome to "lunch money." i am adam johnson. macao and bets big on talks trash about actors. in technology, conspiracy, the story silicon valley does not want you to hear. investor adam warren buffett's big batch, we will introduce you to one of his biggest fans. love-hate's relationship with social media.

let's kick it up with what everyone is talking about and what else could be -- on the first friday of the month? big upside surprise, 200 88,000 jobs traded last month and the unemployment rate drops to 6.3%, the lowest since september of 2008. >> impressive, those are good numbers. the most new jobs added to payrolls since january of 2012. is that good news? >> the headline number is good but the details are not quite as good. that's why we see the markets back off a little bit from their initial excitement. it is a tale of two surveys. the establishment survey is very good, to went 80,000 jobs -- this is the weather, it's over and we are coming back on that but then you look at the household survey, it measures how many people were employed. we lost jobs, 73,000 jobs in the household survey. which one is correct? or more leave the labor force which drives the on employment rate down. if things were getting that much

better, why aren't people coming into the labor force? the discouraged workers would feel better about things. we did not see a rise in earnings. >> exactly right. there are hundreds of thousands of americans who are not eating counted. the numbers. participation in the labor force is at the lowest level since 1978. the trend is not getting any better. that, not only the headline numbers, how many jobs were created and the unemployment rate but importantly, the elements that speak to the most vulnerable segment of the population. if you look at long-term unemployment, that came down to under 3.5 million. we have not seen that level for a while. if you look at teenage unemployment, that came down to under 20%. the strongto see headline numbers and good to see unemployment rate come down and it's even better to see the most vulnerable segments of the population doing better. we need to do earnings and that's the next issue in this progression of healing.

isthe lack of wage growth part of the washington debate over potentially raising the minimum wage. >> if you look at the studies, it's hard to claim that a higher minimum wage will lower employment. do is it will help on the consumption side because that segment of the population has the highest propensity to consume and will help on the inequality side. --hink it would be a win-win for a vulnerable segment of the occupation and the economy as a whole. online job network -- link in sales is below animals estimates. -- analyst estimates for users are not signing up at the pace they used to pushing lincoln into its sixth straight quarter of decelerating growth. how does lincoln make money anyway? >> -- how is linked in make money anyway? >> how does linked in the work?

the recent quarterly earnings topped $473 million up from $25 million five years ago. the 11-year-old company claims more than 300 million members worldwide and 1/3 of them are in the u.s.. it makes money in three different ways. jobseekers upgrade to premium subscriptions. unlike other social networks, people pay for special access. subscribers cough up 20-$50 per month to contact recruiters directly about job they are interested in and make sure there resumes rise to the top of pile. they see 44,000 job applications every day. this advantage may help candidates stand out. companies selling other companies and to users pr. the linkedin information allows for marketing campaigns. at cells brought in $326 million last year. it accounted for more than 1/5

of their 2013 revenue. recruiters by access to member data and paying for their firm to get noticed. equipment professionals pay thousands of dollars each month to access the database. once upon a time, only job seekers posted resumes online. these days through linked in, top, that can access suitable candidates may not even be looking for a new job. this business area known as talent solution is the company's golden goose bringing in more than half of their revenue. it's no surprise that the company hopes to employ the rest of the 3 billion professionals to connect so they can be found online. usersfairness, linkedin is no small number, 300 million is about the population of united states print the warren buffett annual bash is kicking off this weekend and what we can expect to hear from the oracle out in omaha. andno mogul steve wynn

george clooney, they got together over a bottle of vodka. another actor has a new gig, kevin spacey is in the trailer for the new "call of duty at game.ce warfare" >> we should be tolerant of those who worship a different god than us. a journalist should be able to disagree with the president. people need a leader who can the score and the constraint to keep chaos at bay. >> you give them that and they will follow. and that's right come in. -- and that's where i come in. angela merkel is an washington, d.c. to speak with president obama. they are coming out now to make

a statement in the rose garden. let's listen in. there is going to be focus on vladimir putin and the situation in ukraine. >> good morning, everybody. it is always a great pleasure to welcome my friend chancellor merkel to the white house. germany is one of our strongest allies and angela is one of my closest partners. with her indulgence, i want to start by making two brief comments. first, as president, my top priority is doing everything we can to create more jobs and opportunity for hard-working families for our economic strength as a source of strength in the world. this morning, we learned our created 200 77,000 new jobs last month. all told, our business is now created 9.2 million new jobs over 50 consecutive months of job growth. the grit and determination of

the american people are moving us forward but we have to keep a relentless focus on job creation and creating more opportunities for work and families. there is plenty more that congress should be doing from raising the minimum wage to creating good construction jobs and rebuilding america. i want to work with them wherever i can but i keep acting on my own wherever i must to make sure every american who works art has the chance to get ahead. -- i also wantt to say on behalf of the american people that our thoughts are with the people of afghanistan who have experience in all tragedy. we are seeing reports of a devastating landslide on top of recent floods. many people are reported missing. rescue efforts are underway. just as the united states stood with the people of afghanistan through difficult decade, we stand ready to help our afghan partners as they respond to this disaster.

even as there were there comes to them and this year, our commitment to afghanistan and its people will and do her. -- and/or - endure. grateful for the hospitality you and the german people extended to us last year in berlin, it was an honor to speak at the brandenburg gate. you promised me a warm welcome and delivered and him believable 90 degree day in berlin. morning, our work touched on a range of issues where the united states and germany are vital partners. closeeed to continue security cooperation including law enforcement, cyber and intelligence that keeps our citizens safe. we refer to our strong commitment to completing the transatlantic trade investment are to ship which is radical to supporting jobs and boosting exports in both the united states and europe.

we discussed energy security including the importance of europe diversifying its energy sources. the united states has already approved licenses for natural gas exports which will increase global supply and benefit partners like europe and ttip would make it easier to get x or just to europe. in our working lunch, we will review our negotiations with iran and our determination to prevent them from requiring a nuclear weapon. we will discuss area where we support the moderate opposition and provide humanitarian relief to the syrian people. i look forward to briefing angela on my trip to asia, region were both our nations can ensure that all countries in the asia-pacific adhere to international law and international norms. time was spent on the situation in ukraine. to thank you for being such a strong partner on this issue. you have spoken out forcefully and against russia's illegal actions in ukraine and you have been a leader in the european

union as well as an indispensable partner in the g7. your presence here today is a reminder that our nation stand united. we are united in our coordinateon on sanctions. we are united on our unwavering article five commitment to the security of our nato allies including german aircraft joining nato patrols over the baltics. we are united in our support for ukraine including the very program approved this week to help them stabilize and reform its economy. as ukrainian forces move to restore order in eastern ukraine, it is obvious to the world that these russian groups are not peaceful protesters. they are heavily armed militants who are receiving significant support from russia. the ukrainian government has the right and responsibility to uphold law and order within its territory and russia needs to

use its influence over these paramilitary groups of they disarm and stop evoking violence. let me say that we are also united in our outrage over the appalling treatment of the osce observers who have been detained in eastern ukraine. pro-russian militants are still holding seven observers including four germans as well as their ukrainian escorts. they have been paraded in front of the media and forced to make statements at the barrel of a gun. it is disgraceful and it's inexcusable. russia needs to work to secure their immediate release and the international community will not be satisfied until colonel schneider and his fellow captains come home. and iy, as both angela have are beautifully said, we want to see a diplomatic resolution to the situation in ukraine. ifhave also been clear that the russian leadership does not change course, it will face increasing costs as well as growing isolation diplomatic and even -- an economic.

you already, the ruble has fallen to all-time lows and russian stocks this year have dropped sharply and russia has slipped into recession. investors are fleeing its estimated $100 billion in investment will exit russia this year. russian companies are finding it harder to access the capital they need and russia's credit rating has been downgraded to just above junk status. is making assia russian economy even weaker. if russia continues on his current course, we have a range of tools at our disposal including sanctions that would target certain sectors of the russian economy. we have been consulting closely with our european and g-7 partners we are stepping up our planning. angela and i continued these consultations today. the russian leadership must know that if it continues to destabilize eastern ukraine and disrupt this month's presidential election, we will move quickly on additional steps including further sanctions that will them pose greater cost.

that is a choice facing the russian leadership. our preference is a diplomatic resolution to this issue and the ukrainian government is -- has already shown itself more than willing to work through some of the issues that would ensure that the rights of all ukrainians are respected and you have a representative government. they have shown themselves willing to discuss amendments to the constitution on a local level. they have gone through with their commitment for the right amnesty for those who lay down arms and are willing to abandon the building they have occupied. the ukrainian government in kiev has follow through on the commitments it made in geneva. when the russians to do the same. angela, i want to thank you again for being here. as always for your friendship and partnership. these are challenging times. russia's actions in your game -- in ukraine pose a challenge to broughtation that

europe and the u.s. together. stoods our predecessors united for that vision, so will we. chancellor merkel -- thank you very much, barack for this gracious hospitality and this warm welcome you accorded to me and i'm very glad to be able to be back in washington and to have an opportunity to address all of these different issues with you. the priority really is on the current issue of ukraine and it looms large in our agenda and it shows how important the transatlantic partnership is in today's times. i think it's a very good thing that all of the steps we have taken so far, we have taken together and today in our talk, we yet again underlined that we fully intend to go ahead as we did in the past. what happened on ukraine?

what happened on the crimean peninsula? the postwar order has been put into question and that rests on the acceptance of territorial integrity by all. importanty it was so for us to react in concorde. what is at stake is that people in ukraine can act on the basis of self-determination and can determine themselves which road they wish to embark on into the future. the 25th of may is a true till date. we want to ensure that and want to make sure that elections can take place. we talked about this. together, we shall do everything bring russiaer to to do the necessary steps hopefullye osce, and may 25 will bring about progress.

the 25th of may is not all that far away. possible toot stabilize the situation further, further sanctions will be unavoidable. this is something we don't want and we have made a diplomatic offer, an offer for a diplomatic solution so it is up to the russians which road we will embark on. we are firmly resolved to continue to travel down that road. issuesy, we addressed that have a bearing on the work of the intelligence services. on me underline yet again from the german side that we have always enjoyed the" operation with our american partner on this front and anyone in political responsibility is more than aware looking at the challenges of the modern world in fighting terrorism, the work of the intelligence services is not only important, it is indeed indispensable. i am firmly convinced our cooperation in this area is very helpful.

yet there are differences of opinion on what sort of balance to strike between the intensity of surveillance of trying to protect the citizens against rats and on the other hand, protecting individual privacy and individual freedom. that will require further discussion between our two countries in order to overcome these differences of opinion. we have these discussions on the european front with safe harbor agreement and privacy protection agreement and i take back the message home that the u.s. is ready to do that and is ready to discuss this although we have differences of opinion. in the overall context of further intensifying our trade relations of global growth but also in the context of diversification of our energy

supply. this is a very important issue. it will be very important for us to bring the negotiations very quickly to a close on ttip. we are convinced that for the european union and germany and united states this offers a lot of opportunities for the future. it's so important for us to bring this agreement to a successful conclusion. there are a number of discussions and a number of skeptical remarks. people have doubts but the doubts and skepticism can be overcome. look at the many partners all over the world that have financial trade agreements. it is simply necessary looking at the intensity of the transatlantic partnership for us to have this agreement and we are fully at one on this one. we have had very intensive talks

and we are going to build on this over lunch. and thankvery much you for your gracious hospitality. >> i think we will take to questions from the u.s. press and to questions from the german press. we will start with leslie clark. >> thank you, mr. president. you have said today that germany and the united states are united in efforts to de-escalate in the ukraine but have you been able to reach a common ground with the chancellor on sanctions particularly the russian energy sector? what is next if you are unable to? reports in the u.s. press suggest that you believe insident putin may not be touch with reality. is that which you believe, chancellor merkel? can you give us more insight into what he might be thinking? do you believe he is a threat to europe? >> obviously, every day we are

watching the events in eastern ukraine and southern ukraine with concern. i think what you have seen over the course of the last several months in the midst of this crisis is remarkable unity between the united states and the european union and the response. time we havee offered a diplomatic approach that could resolve this issue. inhave been unified supporting the ukrainian government in kiev both economically and diplomatically and politically and we have said we would apply costs and consequences to the russians if they continued with their actions. that's exactly what we have done. you saw over the course of the last week additional sanctions of light both by the europeans and the u.s. be aext step is going to

sectoral sanctions regime. is that wee said want to continue to keep open the possibility of resolving the issue diplomatically but as angela merkel said, if, in fact, we see the disruptions and the continuing, so severely that it impedes elections on may 25, we will not have a choice but to move forward with additional more severe sanctions. the consultations have been taking place over the course of the last several weeks about what exactly those would look like and would apply to a range of sectors. the goal is not to punish russia. the goal is to give them an incentive to choose the better course and that is to resolve

these issues diplomatically. i think we are united on that front. europe, within the eu, i'm sure there has to be extensive consultations. you got 28 countries and some are more vulnerable than others to potential russian retaliation and we have to take those into account. not every country will be in exactly the same place. been remarkable is the degree to which all countries agreed that russia has violated international law and violated territorial integrity and sovereignty of a country in europe and i think there is unanimity that there has to be consequences for that. how we structure the sectoral sanctions, the experts have been working on and we anticipate that if we have to use them, we can. our preference would be not to have to use them. i think chancellor merkel's leadership on this front. she has been extorting her league helpful not only -- she

has been extra ordinarily helpful not only in facilitating the european union but has also been very important in helping to shape a possible diplomatic resolution and reaching out to the russians to encourage them to take that door while it is still open. when it comes to sectoral sanctions, we are looking at a range of issues. energy flows from russia to europe. that continued in the midst of the cold war, at the height of the cold war. the idea that you will turn off russian oil or natural gas exports i think is unrealistic. of there are a range

approaches that can be taken not only in the energy sector but in the arms sector, the finance sector in terms of lines of credit for trade -- all have a significant impact on russia. i don't think it's appropriate for us to delve into the details at this stage because their hope is that we don't have to deploy them there it was i can say is that the discussions are at the highest level. it is not just through the european commission and our diplomatic teams have been working through all the possibilities. we are confident that we will have a package that will further - uh - -impact russia's growth but again, our hope is that we should not have to use them. we are not interested in punishing the russian people. tin and his. pu

leadership circle are taking unnecessary decisions and he needs to be dissuaded from his current course. i think it is obvious to all of us that there are different assessments on what happens in ukraine. on the one hand, you have the united states and europe, we have always taken our decisions together and on the other hand, the russians. upope that russia will live at her in the future to its responsibilities. ingneed to see deeds match words. we don't have any news of the release of hostages of the osce, which is a crucial step that needs to happen for us. yet seen any implementation of the geneva agreement by the russians. osce is an organization to

which we wish to accord a greater role so they can prepare and pave the way for elections. -- i agree sanctions with the american president that they are not an end in itself but combined with the offer that we want the diplomatic solutions, it is a very necessary second component to show that we are serious about our principles and there is a broad range of possibilities that are being prepared for in the european union. in europe, we have taken a decision that should further destabilize an happen, we will move to the third stage of sanctions. i would like to underline this is not necessarily what we want but we are ready and prepared to go to such a step. be first andould foremost to improve stabilization and see to it that the elections can happen.

we will work on this in the next few days but we are also prepared to take further steps. what we are talking about will be sectoral measures in the context of certain branches of industry. the american president and i can only agree to this. we must do what is necessary in regards to the dependency on gas which is important in europe. we can also look ahead in the medium term and what we can do in order to promote and energy union which we are doing. we're looking at dependencies in the next 10-15 years on russian gas supplies. there are six countries right now in the eu that depend 100% on gas supplies and went to improve the flow and improve our grade of pipelines. all of the countries need to share supplies. those are measures we are currently discussing in europe. we're talking about short but also medium-term and long-term issues.

the free trade agreement is gaining prominence in this respect. sorry - that chancellor, you said time is of the essence and it's getting shorter leading up to may 25. what is the time when you would say moving to a third phase of sanctions is what you would promote? is a more energy intensive initiative by the eu necessary on the government level? can you understand the fact that mr. putin needs to play a role in the solution. his arguments have to be weighed and after the chancellor has made several cone falls with him -- phone calls with him, did you have a chance with this? >> what about the next few days to come -- the meeting of foreign

ministers of the eu on the 12th of they will play a very i suspect one and can send that what possibilities there are in various directions. , will dogerman side everything we can in order to bring the oscd into a situation supported politically to do what is necessary in order to ring ideas forward in the u.k.. you have monitors for the elections but also questions as regards to a change in the constitution, reform towards further decentralization -- all of the different countr -- arts of the country have to be together. we want to give them the necessary political backing. time, whenn point in it is there, it is difficult to predict. to me, the elections on may 25 are crucial.

should there be further attempts at destabilization, this will be getting more and more difficult. for now, i am working for elections to take place on that heads of statehe and government are ready at any time should that prove necessary to meet. we have approved that over the past in other areas during the euro crisis and we will them in straight this resolved yet again. i am firmly convinced that united states of america and the european union a to act in concert here and they have done so in the past and they are going to continue to do so. >> i sense from the start that russia has legitimate interests in terms of what happens next door. in ukraine. obviously, there is a deep and complicated history between russia and ukraine. mr. putin's views should be taken into account.

what cannot be taken into account is mr. putin's suggestion through words and actions that he has the right to violate the sovereignty of another country. to violate its territorial integrity, today eight -- to dictate the economic ologies or foreign policy of a sovereign country. that is not acceptable. the start has been that the ukrainians should be able to make their own decisions. confident that if ukrainians were allowed to make their own decisions, and they will choose to have a good relationship with russia as well is a good relationship with europe, that they want to trade with russia and trade with europe. acceptt they cannot understandably is the notion that they are simply an appendage, an extension of

russia and that the kremlin has veto power over decisions made by a duly elected government in kiev. goal isin's to allow ukrainians to make their own decisions, then he is free to offer up his opinions about what he would like the relationship to be between ukraine and russia and i suspect there will be a lot of ukrainian leaders who will take those views into consideration. it cannot be done at the barrel of a gun. it cannot be done by sending massed gunmen to occupy buildings or intimidate journalists. one of the biggest concerns we have seen is the russian propaganda that has been blasted out nonstop suggesting somehow

that the ukrainian government is responsible for the problems in eastern ukraine. the ukrainian government has shown remarkable restraint throughout this process. the notion that this is some spontaneous uprising in eastern ied by all the evidence of well trained and armed militias with the capacity to shoot down helicopters, and generally local protesters don't possess that capacity of surface to air missiles or whatever weapons were used to shoot down helicopters tragically. we have seen the attempt of were approvedwho not just by europe or the united states but also by russia being detained. somehow russia is suggesting that kiev is responsible for

that. say keoheard mr. putin has to do a better job of reaching out to eastern europe -- or eastern ukraine. you have seen attempts by kiev and a very serious way to propose decentralization of power. to provide for local elections. for them to offer amnesty to those who have already taken over these buildings, none of them have been acknowledged by mr. putin or various russian mouthpieces out there. you have also seen suggestions or implications that americans are responsible for meddling inside ukraine. that our only to best is for ukraine able to make its own decisions. the last thing we want is disorder and chaos in the center

of europe. audience whoerman perhaps is tuning into russian advise to stayt focused on the facts and what has happened on the ground. wasw weeks ago, mr. putin still denying the russian military was involved in crimea. a few weeks later, he acknowledged that they were his guys. they're just has not been the kind of honesty and credibility about the situation there and the willingness to engage seriously in resolving these diplomatic issues. our hope is that in fact mr. putin recognizes there is a way for him to have good relations with ukraine, good relations with europe, good relations with the united states. done through be

the kinds of intimidation and coercion we are seeing take place right now in eastern europe. >> thank you, mr. president. haveer this week, critics called an inhumane manner because of a watched execution. -- a botched execution. some countries have expressed their concern. what are your thoughts on this? does this raise more questions about u.s. justice? -- afterellor merkel edward snowden's revelation on surveillance of your own cell phone, you said friends should not spy on friends. this is now healthy with a

healthy alliance? has the personal trust been rebuilt? could you elaborate on thisagreement? thank you. what happened in oklahoma is deeply troubling. the individual who was subject to the death penalty had committed heinous and terrible crimes. thate said in the past there are certain circumstances in which a crime is so terrible that the application of the death penalty may be appropriate. killings, the killings of children. but i have also said that in the application of the death penalty

in this country, we have seen significant problems. bias, unevenl application of the death penalty , situations in which there were individuals on death row who later on were discovered to have been innocent because of exculpatory evidence. all of these to raise significant questions about how the death penalty is being applied. the situation in oklahoma i think highlights some of the significant problem's there. i will be discussing with eric to give me aners analysis of what steps have been taken not just in this particular instance but more broadly in this area. i think we have to, as a

society, ask ourselves some difficult than profound questions around these issues. if you don't mind, i will also go ahead and maybe say something about nsa just because i know is of great interest in the german press as well. germany is one of our closest allies and one of our closest friends. that is true across the spectrum of issues, security, intelligence, economic, diplomatic and angela merkel is one of my closest friends on the whosestage and somebody partnership i deeply value. and so it has pained me to see the degree to which the snowden disclosures have created strains on the relationship. more broadly, i have also been timenced for a very long

that it is important for our legal structure and our policy structure to catch up with rapidly advancing technologies. consequence, through a , what we haves tried to do is reform what we do and have taken these issues very seriously. have tried to we provide additional assurances to the american people that their privacy is protected. what i have also done is taken the unprecedented step of ordering our intelligence community to take the privacy interests of non-us persons into account in everything they do. it is something that has not been done before and most other countries do not do this. i have said that the privacy interests of non-us citizens are

deeply relevant and have to be taken into account and we have to have policies and procedures to protect them, not just u.s. persons. we are in the process of implementing a whole series of those steps. we have shared with the germans the things we are doing. i will repeat what i have said before that ordinary germans are not subject to continual surveillance and are not subject to a whole range of multi-data-gathering. perception among the is that theimes united states has capacity similar to what you see on movies and on television. the truth of the matter is our focus is principally and primarily on how we make sure who want tothose

proliferate weapons, transnational criminals are not able to engage in the act entities they are engaged in. in that, we can only be successful partnering with friends like germany. we will not succeed if we are doing that on our own. but i have pledged to chancellor merkel has been, in addition to the reforms we have already taken, in addition to saying we are going to apply privacy standards to how we deal with non-us persons as well as u.s. persons, in addition to the work we are doing to constrain the -- weial use of bulk data are committed to a u.s.-german close further to the gaps that may exist in terms of how we operate and how german intelligence operates to make sure there is transparency and clarity about we are doing and

what our goals and intentions are. ande are complicated issues we are not perfectly aligned yet but we share the same values and we share the same concerns. this is something that is deeply important to me. i am absolutely committed by the time i leave this office, we will have a stronger legal footing and international framework for how we are doing business in the intelligence sphere. i will say that i don't think there is an inevitable contradiction between our security and safety in our privacy. the one thing i have tried to merkel is chancellor the united states historically has been concerned about privacy. it is embedded in our constitution and as the world's

oldest continuous constitutional democracy, i think we know a little about trying to protect people's privacy. we have a technology that is moving rapidly and we have a very challenging world we have to deal with and would got to adjust our legal framework. she should not doubt and the german people should not doubt how seriously we take these issues. i believe we will be able to get them resolved to the satisfaction not just of our two countries but to people around the world. >> under the present conditions, we have possibilities as regards differences of opinion to overcome those differences in the medium term. and in the long-term. enter intolity is to cyber data which is important which gives us a form to have longer discussions as to where we stand individually and what

the technical possibilities and ramifications of eric set the logical events as our. secondly, there are two strands of the european union -- there is the safe harbor agreement and the data protection and privacy accord. in the course of the negotiations, it works out fairly what differences of opinion there are and what different perspectives there are. i think it's of prime importance for us to bring these new decisions forward as a process and bring it to a successful conclusion. something else comes into play -- i heard this this morning when i had a breakfast meeting with people who are closely in contact with the parliament. they suggested that our parliament should have closer contact on this and that is important not only for the governments but also for the broader public. these could be three possibilities as to how to address this and understand each other's motivations better.

>> is it possible to agree on a no spy agreement? what kind of assurances could you give chancellor merkel with regard not only to ordinary citizens but to government members, some of them sitting here, that they are not under u.s. surveillance anymore? when the french president was here a few weeks ago, after his talk with president obama, he said trust as regards the nsa has been rebuilt. can you say the same thing? it's not quite accurate to say that the u.s. government spy agreement and then withdrew it. what is accurate to say is that we do not have a blanket no

sp[y agreement with any of our closest partners. what we do have are a series of partnerships and procedures and processes that are built up between the various intelligence agencies. what we are doing with the germans as we are doing with the french and we do with the british or the canadians or anybody is to work through what governinge rules are the relationship between each country. we want to make sure there are no misunderstandings. i think we have gone a long way in closing some of the gaps. as chancellor merkel said, there's still some gaps that need to be worked through. i think what we can be confident about is that the basic approach

that we take with germany is similar to the approach we take with all of our allies. and all of our friends. it is that during the course of the last several years as technology advances, i think there was a danger in which traditional expectations tipped over because of new technologies and what we have tried to do is make sure our policies reflect increased capabilities and as a consequence, increased dangers of intrusion on privacy. -- ourput it this way interest in working effectively with the germans and making sure that german governments as well as the german people feel confident about what we do is as important to us as any other country. is at the top of our list in terms of friends. and allies and colleagues.

we are not holding back from doing something with germany we somehow do with somebody else. >> i think the whole debate is that the situation is such that we have a few difficulties yet to overcome. this is why there is going to be a dialogue between our two countries. this is also why there needs to be and will have to be more than just business as usual. looking at this and the german parliament but also among members of the german government and also in the german public, we need to do that. it's good we have taken these first steps and what is still like issues of proportionality and the like will be addressed. we will work on this and it will be on the agenda for the next few weeks to come. >> thank you very much, everybody. as they wrap up their press

conference, the were talking mostly about russia but also on a couple of other issues. the nsa was one issue and the oklahoma execution utley was another issue that was raised in this press conference. alice clement from the eurasia group. what did you think about how the press conference went? the focus was not fully on the ukrainian consulate. >> president obama said u.s. and germany are united on a number of things. they are united in the outrage about what russia is doing but i still very much get the sense they are not united on the costs that each country is willing to pay in terms of imposing sanctions in order to press the russians. >> although angela merkel said she would be willing to discuss further escalated sanctions. >> they have been willing to

discuss that for 2.5 miles. they appear to have made the holding of the presidential elections on may 25 the key red line, as it were, for whether there are escalated sections against russia which gives them four weeks to work something out. it will be interesting to see if the election occurs what is deemed illegitimate apartheid ukraine and whether that will cross the line of disruption of the elections for the west. >> we also heard chancellor merkel mentioned specifically the over surveillance that the u.s. -- the disagreement on how much surveillance is necessary to fight terrorism. it referenced the fact that the nsa was eavesdropping on her cell phone. not reallyng us has been warmed over completely? >> that was maybe the cyber dialogue they were talking about.

it used to be called something else. clearly she had to make that comment. this is a key issue for the german public in a key issue is also whether there will be extended sanctions against russia. there is not a majority of germans for that. inphil busto bring let -- but let's listen to angela merkel -- possible that not be to stabilize the situation further, further sanctions will be unavoidable. this is something we don't want. we have made a diplomatic offer, and offer for a diplomatic solution so it's very much up to the russians which road we will embark on. we are firmly resolved to continue to travel down that road. president heading what he wants from the chancellor? she seems to be the less willing partner as far as further sanctions. >> i think without question, she

is the less willing partner. this was a positive statement terms of remaining unified. as it was said, this did not move the ball forward that much. date, mayd out a key 12 is when the foreign ministers will meet to craft and decide which of the number of proposals that are floating out there related to further sanctions they might move forward with. that will be a key date to watch on the other thing is she said the may 25 collection as the next date for expanding those sanctions. that has not been there before. before it was an invasion by russian troops and may 12 and side ofrom the european things, those would be the key dates to watch. >> she is encouraging the ukrainian people to decide their own fate. the germans like to stay as much out of this as they can. how close are these two really? i think at one point president

obama said she was one of his best friends but she does not speak english and he does not speak german. howt is tough to overstate problem the nsa revelations were for their relationship. when you talk to administration officials, they say angela merkel and president obama are largely the last two remaining world leaders on the stage since when obama was inaugurated in 2009. they have had a long-term relationship based on international diplomacy. they know each other well and a very similar ways of operating, very cool, not really willing to get out there in front of thanks. i think they have had a good relationship up until the nsa revelations. she was not pounding her fist in rage but the fact that they are both willing to acknowledge that there is a gap between the two of them amidst their agreement on the ukraine shows there are still problems in this relationship and they are not as tight as they were maybe in 2012. >> it's hard to overstate how

close the germans and russians are. itgerhardnse, was schroeder had a birthday party of vladimir putin attended? >> that's right. >> he was the chancellor of the country. >> he is part >> of the north stream gas company. >>he is the centerleft party. it's not even the right wing of germany which is close and friendly with russia. if the centerleft party that is in bed with russians. >> the timing certainly couldn't have been worse. the real issue is that the german business lobby itself has been lobbying very hard with chancellor merkel not to expand sanctions. they claim that 300,000 german jobs depend on trade with russia. this is an important part of their business. there is also the public opinion issue which is still shy on

escalating sanctions against russia. the schroeder thing was poor timing and potentially poor taste but the bigger issue is the business and public opinion issues. >> i wonder what public opinion will be like here. we have a lot going on in the u.s. you've got health care issues that the president should be dealing with, rising costs due to his recent policy. you got employment problems. there is a company wanting to pay over $100 billion to get out of this tax regime. there are a lot of issues in congress to deal with. yet he is spending time in this ukrainian issue. is that a concern for the white house? if for no other reason than the midterm elections are in a couple of months. andcrats in the house senate would prefer he focuses on domestic issues. we got a good job's number today and they want him to roll out proposals that would look positive from the economic side of things. perspective on

russia, so long as there are not boots on the ground, i think havepolled ok on the sanction thanks. -- sanction side of things. it's interesting to watch the u.s. but that is very wary and very fatigued when it comes to international issues and how they will perceive this going forward. >> why do you think this issue in ukraine seems to be so much more important to the white house than something like syria where you have thousands of people tying? why is the focus more on ukraine than it is on assad. >> there are still a sense in washington the something active can be potentially done about ukraine to pretend -- to prevent it from unfolding further. there is a bigger sense of disheartening or impetus to do anything on syria. russia is obstructing certain efforts to resolve the situation.

even without russia's involvement, it would be in intractable conflict that the white house wants to move away from. they want to move away from the middle east because they are focused on asia. i think they don't want to get sidetracked from that. >> thanks so much for joining us. phil mattingly, thank you so much. " bloomberg west" is next. ♪

♪ >> live from pier three in san francisco, welcome to "bloomberg west." we cover innovation, technology, and the future of business. i'm emily chang. tech companies could face major changes over how they collect personal data. from selling burberry's luxury goods to all things apple, the new head of retail. a check of your top headlines. samsung has sent out in this -- invitations for a health-related event on may 28 in san ci